A free chronological video Bible study

Walk through the complete Gospel story—one movement, one place, and one witness at a time. This page brings the four Gospels into one intelligible journey while preserving the distinctive voice of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Read the whole account here, enter one of the five permanent parts, or follow all eighty teaching messages from Old Testament preparation and Bethlehem through Galilee, Jerusalem, the cross, the empty tomb, the later resurrection appearances, and the ascension.

The complete story

The story of Jesus begins within Israel’s long expectation. God had promised blessing through Abraham, a royal Son through David, a servant who would bear sin, and a renewed covenant in which God would forgive and dwell with his people. Matthew opens with the royal and covenant line of Jesus. Luke places his birth amid the waiting faith of Israel. John reaches behind Bethlehem to identify Jesus as the eternal Word who was with God and was God. The child born to Mary is therefore not an isolated religious teacher. He is the promised King, the incarnate Son, and the fulfillment toward which the story of Scripture has been moving.

The announcements of John and Jesus break a long silence. John will prepare the Lord’s way; Jesus will receive David’s throne and reign without end. Born in Bethlehem under Roman power, Jesus is announced to shepherds as Savior, Messiah, and Lord. Simeon and Anna recognize God’s salvation in the temple. The Magi worship, while Herod’s violence reveals that the coming kingdom will meet resistance. After refuge in Egypt and years in Nazareth, Jesus grows in wisdom and favor. At twelve he is already conscious that his life belongs uniquely to his Father’s purpose.

John the Baptist then appears in the wilderness calling Israel to repentance. At the Jordan, Jesus identifies with the people he came to save, the Spirit descends, and the Father declares his pleasure in the beloved Son. In the wilderness Jesus resists the tempter where Adam and Israel failed. He gathers his first followers, reveals his glory at Cana, confronts corruption in the temple, speaks of new birth with Nicodemus, and offers living water in Samaria. When he begins proclaiming the good news in Galilee, his words and works announce that God’s reign has drawn near.

From Galilee the kingdom becomes visible. Jesus describes its character in the Sermon on the Mount: humility, mercy, purity, faithful love, secret devotion, trust in the Father, and obedience that reaches the heart. He forgives sins, cleanses the unclean, heals disease, commands storms, frees the oppressed, feeds the hungry, and raises the dead. His parables reveal the hidden growth, priceless worth, mixed reception, and coming judgment of the kingdom. He appoints and sends the Twelve so that his mission begins forming a witnessing community around him.

Yet revelation also produces decision. Some receive Jesus with faith; others want his gifts without receiving him. Religious leaders oppose his authority, Herod kills John, and crowds turn away when Jesus presents himself as the Bread of Life. Beyond Galilee he extends mercy to Gentiles and confronts false ideas of purity. At Caesarea Philippi, Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah. Jesus immediately explains that the Messiah must suffer, be rejected, die, and rise. From this point the cross is not an accident waiting at the end of the story—it becomes the direction of the journey.

Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem. Along the road he forms disciples in humility, forgiveness, prayer, readiness, stewardship, compassion, and costly allegiance. At Jerusalem’s feasts he identifies himself as living water, the light of the world, and the Good Shepherd. Opposition intensifies even as Lazarus is raised and the Son of Man seeks the lost in Jericho. Jesus arrives at Bethany and enters Jerusalem as the promised King. During the final week he judges the temple, answers his opponents, teaches on the Mount of Olives, gives the covenant meal, washes his disciples’ feet, promises the Spirit, and prays for his own.

In Gethsemane Jesus willingly submits to the Father. Betrayed, arrested, denied, mocked, and condemned, he gives himself at the cross. His death bears sin, exposes the world’s rebellion, fulfills Scripture, and opens the way to God. He is buried, the tomb is guarded, and his followers’ hopes appear finished. But on the first day of the week the stone is rolled away. The women hear that he has risen; Mary sees the Lord; Scripture and bread open the eyes of the Emmaus disciples; and Jesus stands among the gathered followers alive.

During the following forty days Jesus answers Thomas’s doubt, restores Peter, teaches his followers, and commissions them as witnesses to every nation. He promises the Holy Spirit and ascends from the Mount of Olives. The story ends not with Jesus absent or defeated, but with the crucified and risen Son reigning and sending his people. The five movements and epilogue below allow you to follow that entire journey in order.

One life · four witnesses

Chronology helps us see when and where events unfold, but the Gospels are more than interchangeable records. Each Evangelist selects, orders, and explains the true events of Jesus’ life so that we see the same Lord with complementary clarity. Read together, their witnesses deepen rather than flatten the story.

The complete teaching library

Every title below is an ordinary, permanent link to its own Sacra Script lesson page. The seventy-one core lessons form the primary chronological journey. Foundation studies, part orientations, companion messages, the complete-series overview, and the closing meditation remain visible without interrupting that sequence.

Follow the parts in order for the complete journey, select a movement that interests you, or use your browser’s page search to find a person, place, event, passage, or teaching title.

Part One

The Gospel story opens by identifying Jesus before recounting his birth. Matthew traces the line through Abraham and David, locating Jesus within God’s covenant promises and royal purpose. Luke writes an orderly account rooted in eyewitness testimony. John declares that the Word who created all things has come into the world. Together these openings answer the first question of the series: the child of Bethlehem is the promised Messiah, David’s King, and the eternal Son who became flesh.

The birth narratives then unfold as two interwoven stories. Gabriel announces John, the forerunner who will prepare the Lord’s way. Six months later he announces Jesus to Mary: the child conceived by the Spirit will be holy, will receive David’s throne, and will reign forever. Mary’s praise interprets the coming salvation as God’s faithfulness to his covenant. Zechariah sees John’s ministry as dawn breaking upon those who sit in darkness. Joseph receives Jesus as the one who will save his people from their sins.

Bethlehem displays both the humility and majesty of the incarnation. The Savior lies in a manger, yet heaven announces his birth and the nations come to worship. In the temple Simeon recognizes light for the Gentiles and glory for Israel, while Anna speaks to those awaiting redemption. The Magi bow before the King; Herod opposes him. Egypt, Nazareth, and Jesus’ appearance in the temple at twelve complete the early-years movement. The King has arrived quietly, but his identity, mission, and the conflict surrounding him are already visible.

Part One ends before John begins his public ministry. The promises have taken flesh; the next movement asks how the way is prepared and how Jesus’ mission begins.

Part Two

John the Baptist steps into Israel’s wilderness tradition with a direct summons: prepare for the Lord by turning from sin and bearing fruit consistent with repentance. His baptism cannot create the kingdom, and John refuses to make himself the center. He points beyond himself to the stronger One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. When Jesus comes to the Jordan, he stands with the people he came to save. The heavens open, the Spirit descends, and the Father identifies the beloved Son.

The wilderness immediately tests that identity. Jesus refuses to use sonship for self-serving power, refuses spectacular presumption, and refuses the kingdoms of the world at the price of worshiping the tempter. He remains faithful to the Father and faithful to Scripture. John then identifies him as the Lamb of God, and witness begins to gather followers. Andrew brings Peter; Philip brings Nathanael. At Cana Jesus supplies the wedding feast and reveals his glory. At Jerusalem he confronts the misuse of the temple and points to the raising of his own body.

Jesus’ conversations reveal the new life his kingdom brings. Nicodemus needs birth from above, not merely religious status. In Samaria Jesus gives living water, exposes the truth without discarding the sinner, and gathers worshipers for the Father. The harvest begins among people many in Israel would avoid. Returning to Galilee, Jesus is received in some places and rejected in Nazareth. He calls fishermen, teaches with authority, heals the sick and unclean, forgives sins, and confronts Sabbath interpretations that miss God’s mercy. By appointing the Twelve, Jesus gives visible form to the community that will learn his kingdom and carry his mission.

The movement closes with Jesus gathering and appointing the Twelve. The kingdom has drawn near in the person and work of its King; Part Three will show what that kingdom is like and how Jesus makes its authority visible.

Part Three

With the Twelve gathered, Jesus describes the life created by God’s reign. The Beatitudes bless people who know their need, hunger for righteousness, practice mercy, make peace, and endure opposition for faithfulness. Jesus does not discard the Law; he brings it to fulfillment and carries righteousness into anger, desire, speech, retaliation, and love for enemies. Giving, prayer, fasting, possessions, anxiety, judgment, and obedience all come under the Father’s searching care. The Sermon on the Mount presents not a collection of detached ideals but the portrait of people formed around the King.

The kingdom also becomes visible through Jesus’ authority and mercy. A centurion trusts his word; a sinful woman receives forgiveness; disease, uncleanness, demonic oppression, storms, and death yield before him. These signs are not performances. They restore people, reveal compassion, and raise the question every witness must answer: Who is this? Jesus’ parables press the same question. The seed falls on different soils, weeds remain until harvest, small beginnings grow, and the kingdom’s value demands a decisive response. Revelation brings responsibility to hear.

Jesus extends his mission by sending the Twelve. They proclaim, heal, depend on God’s provision, and face rejection. John’s death shows the cost of faithful witness. When crowds follow Jesus into a deserted place, he feeds them; when the disciples struggle on the sea, he comes to them. Yet the Bread of Life discourse exposes divided motives. Many want bread without the One to whom the sign points. Questions of purity, Gentile faith, and compassion beyond Israel’s boundaries continue revealing the reach of his mission. Finally Jesus asks the disciples who they say he is. Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah completes the Galilean movement and prepares the decisive turn toward the cross.

Peter’s confession is true, but the disciples do not yet understand what kind of Messiah Jesus is. The next movement begins when Jesus joins his identity as Messiah to suffering, death, resurrection, and the call to take up the cross.

Part Four

After Peter confesses Jesus as Messiah, Jesus speaks plainly about rejection, death, and resurrection. Peter resists because a crucified Messiah overturns ordinary expectations of power. Jesus answers by extending the pattern of the cross to everyone who follows him: self-denial, costly allegiance, and the loss that becomes true life. The transfiguration confirms that the suffering Son is also the glorious Son to whom the disciples must listen. Yet descent from the mountain returns them to dependent faith, misunderstanding, rivalry, and the patient work of discipleship.

Jesus then begins the deliberate movement toward Jerusalem. Along the way he teaches a community shaped by humility, care for the vulnerable, restoration, forgiveness, prayer, watchfulness, and faithful stewardship. At the feasts in Jerusalem, his claims become more open. He offers living water, identifies himself as the light of the world, gives sight, exposes spiritual blindness, and presents himself as the Good Shepherd. His words sharpen the division between those who hear his voice and leaders who increasingly seek his death.

Luke’s long travel narrative gathers meals, questions, warnings, and parables around the journey. The Good Samaritan defines neighbor love through costly mercy. Mary receives the word while Martha’s anxious service is reordered. Jesus teaches his disciples to pray and to remain ready for the Master’s return. Lost sheep, a lost coin, and lost sons reveal the Father’s seeking joy. Teachings on wealth, status, persistence, and repentance uncover the heart. The kingdom reverses ordinary measures of importance.

Near the end of the road Jesus raises Lazarus at Bethany, a sign of life that also accelerates the decision to kill him. In Jericho he gives sight to Bartimaeus and brings salvation to Zacchaeus, explaining that the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. He arrives at Bethany and receives an anointing that anticipates his burial. The road has reached Jerusalem’s threshold. Jesus has not been trapped by events; he has deliberately traveled toward the hour for which he came.

Part Four closes at Bethany before the triumphal entry. The cross has shaped Jesus’ teaching and direction throughout the road; Part Five now follows the appointed hour from Palm Sunday through Resurrection Sunday.

Part Five

Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey as the promised King. The crowd’s praise draws from Israel’s hope, but Jesus weeps over the city because it does not recognize the things that make for peace. On Monday the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple interpret one another: God’s house should bear the fruit of prayer for the nations, yet judgment falls on empty profession. On Tuesday leaders challenge Jesus’ authority, parables expose rejection of God’s Son, and questions about Caesar, resurrection, the greatest commandment, and David’s Lord display his wisdom. From the Mount of Olives he prepares the disciples for judgment, endurance, vigilance, and his return.

As Passover approaches, betrayal and preparation move toward the appointed meal. In the upper room Jesus acts as the servant, gives bread and the cup as the covenant sign of his body and blood, predicts denial, promises the Spirit, and speaks peace to troubled disciples. His prayer gathers the themes of his mission: the Father’s glory, the completion of the work, the keeping and sanctifying of his followers, and the unity of those who will believe through their witness.

Gethsemane reveals willing obedience under the full weight of the approaching cup. Jesus is betrayed, arrested, abandoned, and denied. Jewish and Roman proceedings expose false witness, political calculation, mockery, fear, and injustice. Yet Jesus does not cease to be King. At Golgotha he is crucified between criminals beneath a royal charge. Darkness falls; Jesus dies; the temple curtain is torn; and a Roman centurion recognizes the significance of the man before him. Joseph receives the body, the women observe the burial, and the tomb is secured.

On the first day of the week the women find the stone rolled away and hear that Jesus has risen. Mary Magdalene encounters the living Lord. On the road to Emmaus Jesus opens the Scriptures to show that the Messiah’s suffering and glory belong to one saving purpose. That evening he appears among the gathered disciples, brings peace, displays his wounds, opens their minds, and commissions witness. Resurrection Sunday completes Part Five: the crucified King is alive, death has been defeated, and the Gospel story now moves toward the risen Lord’s continuing instruction and ascension.

Part Five ends on Resurrection Sunday evening. The Gospel story continues in an unnumbered epilogue as Jesus answers Thomas, restores and commissions his followers, promises the Spirit, and ascends.

Epilogue

One week after Resurrection Sunday, Thomas is present when Jesus appears again. The wounds answer his doubt, and Thomas responds with the Gospel’s climactic confession: the risen Jesus is Lord and God. The encounter shows that resurrection faith is not wishful denial of death. The One who lives is the same Jesus who was crucified, and his bodily victory transforms doubt into worship.

In Galilee Jesus meets his followers, provides for them, and restores Peter after his threefold denial. The question of love leads back to the calling to shepherd and follow. Jesus commissions his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching under his universal authority. Other appearances confirm the resurrection to a widening circle of witnesses. In Jerusalem he opens the Scriptures, promises power from the Holy Spirit, and identifies the mission that will move outward from the city.

At the Mount of Olives Jesus blesses his followers and ascends. His ascension is not retirement from the story. It announces that the crucified and risen Son reigns, that his witnesses act under his authority, and that the promised Spirit will empower the Church’s mission. The disciples return with joy and wait in hope. The journey that began with promise now ends with commission, worship, and expectation of the King’s return.

This is not Part Six. It completes the online chronology and returns the reader to the whole Following Jesus journey with a clearer view of the reigning Lord and the mission entrusted to his people.

Begin before the journey or continue after it

Two additional teachings frame the chronological path without becoming numbered events. The complete-series overview gives the geography and movement of Jesus’ entire life before Part One. The closing meditation responds to the completed journey with thanksgiving, witness, and hope.

Study and ministry use

Following Jesus can be read as a complete introduction to the Gospel story, followed as an eighty-message chronological course, or entered through one permanent part. Individuals can move at their own pace. Families and small groups can read the narrative before choosing a lesson. Church classes can use the part pages as coherent teaching units while returning here for the whole-life perspective.

The permanent structure also allows the video library to grow. Additional Gospel studies can be placed in their proper movement without changing the identity of the five parts or confusing the core chronological path.

Permanent homes for future printed studies

Each numbered part now has a permanent Academy home. Those pages already gather the narrative, major movements, and ordered video lessons for that period of Jesus’ life. When a printed study is ready, its book information, samples, and purchase options can be added to the corresponding permanent page without restructuring this hub or moving the lesson pages.

About the series

Following Jesus was taught by Rhome van Dyck to help people understand how the events, movements, teachings, signs, conflicts, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus fit together through the four Gospels.

Sacra Script Ministries creates clear, visual Bible teaching for the Church around the world. The complete teaching journey remains freely available here, while the permanent part pages prepare the way for deeper study resources in the future.